How to retain customers in the restaurant business

Customer loyalty means fixed income, but above all, it means word of mouth and a new customer.

Let’s find out some tricks to turn our occasional customers into regular customers.

Loyalty card

Now the kebabbari do it too! The classic “every 10 pizzas, I give you one” never goes out of fashion and invites the local customer to choose your pizzeria more often.

Another example is the accumulation of points for every euro spent, with the possibility of delegating the distribution of prizes to another company.
Equipped with systems to read the cards in your city and for Cashback: some customers do everything to save a few cents!

Discount coupons are also a great idea!

Loyalty: Custom Promotions (to all)

In my city there is a very famous bar in the center.
If I think about where to go to have fun in the evening or where to meet some acquaintances, it is the first place that comes to mind.
Prices are already cheap, but there was no time I went and they didn’t offer me or my friends something to drink.

Those bartenders really know how to make you feel special. This is exactly the point. I will have heard at least 3 of my friends who whisper “it makes me pay less”. They are the regulars, but I too am an occasional customer enjoying my discounts.
The promotions are personalized only in appearance!

Do the same: offer a limoncello at the end of the dinner or a chocolate beside the coffee.

The importance of staff to retain

There are bars where I wonder who the owner is. They all look so in harmony! The most unpleasant waiter for sure is not, because he does not care about the activity.

Your collaborators must carry your project. To achieve this goal you must be a true leader, one who drags, not one who commands!
Transmit your values ​​as a restaurateur: kindness, availability and professionalism.

Your customers will feel at home and you can retain customers.

Quality price

It is the key to everything. Never make people think of your restaurant as being too expensive or offering tasty food. Be remembered for your original dishes, or at least cheap but never low quality!

Stomachs are the tyrants of the mind. If I want a certain food, I will think of a specific place. He thinks he is the only restaurateur in the whole city to cook it. That’s why it’s important to be original!

By quality we also mean everything that revolves around service, not just the ingredients. Some places have a reputation for being slow to serve. Of course, if I have little time, those restaurateurs can forget about my money!

Ticket in restaurant: 2019 electronic meal vouchers

Ticket in the restaurant: What are they? What are the advantages for companies and employees? What are the disadvantages?

What is the electronic ticket?

It is a meal voucher that works like a paper voucher, but instead of being issued on paper, it is loaded into a magnetic card by the employer.

Whenever the employee consumes a meal, at the time of payment he will take out the card with the amount credited and the restaurateur will make him crawl on the POS terminal, as if it were an ATM.

Ticket of restaurant: Benefits for companies

Electronic meal vouchers are cheaper than paper ones: they are fully deductible and deductible with 4% VAT.

Furthermore, to respond to the need to rationalize the number of cards available to each employee, the electronic meal voucher service is already set up to be easily integrated with other existing cards: the company badge, the health card, etc.

The digital format greatly facilitates the task of the order manager and the distribution of the vouchers in the company, because it greatly reduces the risk of delivery delays, having only to introduce the order for the employees to the system.
The amount due will be immediately and securely loaded and available on the personal magnetic card of each collaborator.

Benefits for employees

In addition to being smarter, virtual tickets are also suitable for other reasons:

  • the list of establishments in which it is possible to use meal vouchers, including supermarkets, holiday farms, pastry shops, trattorias, bars, takeaways, fast food and delicatessens, is increased. The variety of choice depends on the company that provides the ticket issuing service
  • tickets can be accumulated up to a maximum of 8, so you can use them all at once
  • from 1 July 2015, the tax-free value of electronic tickets went from 5.29 euros to 7 euros. It follows that workers who benefit from electronic tickets earn a few cents more per month
  • vouchers are loaded onto the card and therefore do not need to be picked up at the company. Much more comfortable!

Ticket of the restaurant: Disadvantages

Unfortunately, the convenient virtual tickets also have flaws, which we hope will be resolved over time.

  • Every company that deals with issuing meal tickets prepares a card that needs a specific POS to be read
  • The consequence of the first point is that, despite the variety of points of sale, there are still few restaurateurs who accept this type of ticket

The rumor has spread that some commercial circuits are trying to come together to create a single POS.
It would really be a turning point in such a fragmented market!

What is a static oven?

Let’s examine in detail:


The static oven cooks mainly by conduction and radiation.

Static oven: Differences from the ventilated oven

Heat propagation




Static oven: Suitable dishes


Also ideal for sponge cake and meringues.


The temperatures

And if we don’t have the oven we need?




How to open a bar: Some tips

Opening a bar: Do you want to feel like at home while you work? Make your own space by opening a successful bar!
In this guide I will give you useful information to start this stimulating activity!

Choice of location
It is essential that your customers can see and find your place, so you need to evaluate:

if your target passes in front of us, at what times and with which dynamics
what kind of traffic is in place (ex: the station is a crowded place and attracts every type of client)
how to see the room from the outside: the customer, unconsciously, tends to enter more willingly into a bar where he sees well inside
Opening a bar means setting up a business, and then becoming an entrepreneur.
Opening the VAT number, identifying the most suitable company form and registering the company with the Business Register will be the first three steps in which it is best to rely on an accountant.

Then you need a property that must be up to standard, that is, in order with regards to licenses and requirements that are often imposed by local legislation (Municipal or Regional).
The same applies if you choose to acquire an existing bar, because you cannot take it for granted.

Bureaucratic steps
presentation to the Municipality of the form for communication of commencement of activity including the required attachments (data of the owner, company, opening hours, viability, ASL compliance, etc.);
request to the municipality for authorization to display the sign;
request to the Revenue Agency for authorization for retail sales of spirits;
payment of SIAE rights for the dissemination of music and images;
request for fire certification to the Fire Brigade (only for premises of size equal to or greater than 450 square meters)
Personal requirements
Having successfully attended professional courses, established or recognized by the regions or autonomous provinces, regarding the activity of food and beverage administration, obtaining the SAB and HACCP certificate, the first required only for the entrepreneur or for one of the members, while the second is mandatory for all the personnel assigned to the preparation or the service.
Alternatively, it is sufficient to have a suitable qualification, such as the hotel certificate.


Thinking of starting your own business without planning is a suicide, an action that will most likely lead you to bankruptcy or otherwise lose money.

So don’t overlook the business plan!
In this document you will have to mark all the items of expense that you will have to face in view of the opening of your bar: not only what regards the more concrete aspects, but also those related to the fulfillment of the Italian bureaucratic requests.

In the case of the purchase of a bar that has already started, you will need to purchase the license, the value of which will depend on the turnover.

You can also evaluate the opening of a franchise, which can be convenient in terms of visibility and guarantee to customers.

The cost of a bar depends mainly on the size and location.
In fact, one of the heaviest costs is just the rent, together with the utilities and staff. I value around 50 thousand euros.

Similarly, if you decide to take over a pre-existing room, the sum to be paid to the previous owner can be around 100-200 thousand euros, even if it can be paid in installments against an advance.
At this expense we must then add the notary’s fee, as well as the compensation of the mediator (about 2% of the sum) for a total of 7-8 thousand euros.

Tools and consumables
To take into consideration:

  • A professional coffee machine, which can cost more than 2 thousand euros
  • Oven: 500 euros
  • Chopper: 18 euros and blender: 10 euros
  • Refrigerators-freezers: 2 thousand euros
  • Sink: € 150.
  • Cash register: 600 euros
  • Dishwasher: 600 euros
  • Slicer: 150 euros
  • Ice chop 50 euros
  • What else is needed to open a bar?

What else?

  • 2 Shakers: € 20.
  • 100 normal glasses: 250 €.
  • 70 Cocktail glasses: € 560.
  • 50 Coffee cups: € 75.
  • 40 dishes: 60 €.
  • 300 Packs Napkins: 300 €.

And as for the furnishings:

  • 40 chairs: 2,300 euros
  • 10 stools: 160 euros
  • 10 tables: 500 euros
  • 1 counter: 25 thousand euros

Management costs
The main ones are:

  • staff
  • Utilities
  • Raw material
  • Insurance policies

Bar management

By “bar management” I mean everything that revolves around offering the customer service.

It is essential to speed up and optimize this process.
But for this you can feel comfortable: with our management software Ristomanager you can:

  1. manage the tables
  2. keep memory of orders
  3. manage warehouse stocks

What are you waiting for to provide an efficient service? Try Ristomanager for free

How to open a restaurant: here is a brief guide

Have you ever wondered how to open a restaurant? What are the requirements? How much does the set-up cost? How not to fail?
I propose this brief guide.

Open a restaurant: Bureaucracy

In order to start the activity, it is necessary to possess the requisites for the administration of food and beverages, mainly aimed at obtaining Healthcare.

You need:

  1. a qualifying degree, for example the hotel diploma
  2. or have attended a SAB course (food and drink administration)
  3. the premises must meet the requirements established by the Municipality for the intended use of the property, the specific health authorizations and those of plant engineering
  4. Presentation of the HACCP plan, that is a system of self-control that foresees courses for the owner and employees
  5. Compilation of the SCIA (Certified Start of Activity Report), which must be collected and presented at the Single Desk for Production Activities of the Municipality
  6. Registration in the Business Register at the Chamber of Commerce
  7. Opening VAT number at the Revenue Agency
  8. Registration with INPS
  9. Inail registration

I advise you to contact a good accountant, who helps you to follow all the practices, otherwise you go crazy!

Open a restaurant: Costs

Bureaucratic costs
Now let’s talk about the part that interests us most.

The first cost you will incur is that relating to the establishment of the legal form of the company, which conditions the cost itself.
The most suitable forms are: sole proprietorship, s.r.l. (Limited Liability Company) or s.n.c.
For example, if you decide to open a simplified SRL, you will certainly save € 1,500 from the notary and there is no real minimum payment of the share capital or, better, it exists but amounts to € 1.
Let’s say slightly convenient to the 10 thousand euro of a s.r.l. normal!

Costs to start the activity
I will try to be quite generic, because it all depends on what you want to do and where.

A medium-sized restaurant requires:

  1. at least 30,000 euros for furniture, kitchen, appliances and various tools
  2. if the restaurant needs a renovation, an additional amount of 10,000 to 40,000 euros must be spent
  3. between 10,000 and 15,000 euros for tables, chairs, bar counter
  4. at least 10,000 euros for the purchase of crockery, pots, tablecloths, uniforms for the staff
  5. Including bureaucratic costs, the initial costs for fixed assets vary between € 53,000, in the case of the opening of a Simplified SRL, and over € 80,000 for a normal SRL and a new room.

And it’s not over here. The following aspects are missing:

  1. the rent of the premises. In addition to the monthly fee, the deposit must be considered. It does not represent a real cost, as it is given back, but in any case of the money that you will have to take out in advance, and can even reach up to 3 months of rent. I advise you to avoid the agencies, otherwise you will have to pay an extra monthly payment as a commission
  2. utilities
  3. the annual staff course
  4. monthly salaries for cooks, kitchen and dining room staff
  5. taxes (which you pay after the first year of operation)
  6. raw materials (variable management cost)


This stranger! Often restaurateurs make the mistake of not foreseeing it as a cost in the business plan.
I say error because if I don’t do everything to attract and retain customers, for example through a Facebook or PR campaign, I don’t increase the proceeds.
What is the use of investing thousands of euros in an activity if I have no revenue?

By marketing I don’t mean advertising, which aims only to make itself known in this case.

By marketing I mean the reflection on why people should come and eat with you instead of going to the competition or staying home.

How to manage the customer

We have understood that we must put it in the center.
Now ask yourself how to best serve it, then:

  1. how to take an effective order
  2. how to organize tables and accounts
  3. how to manage warehouse stocks so that nothing is ever missing
  4. how to be fast with orders

The answer to all these questions is Ristomanager, our restaurant software that will help you simplify the meal sales process and reduce costs, thanks to the statistics function.

Food truck: Everything you need to know

Food Truck: What is it? Which are the most famous? How to open it? How should it be managed? How can Ristomanager help you?
Follow me in these paragraphs and you will discover the world of the so-called cloister-van!

What’s this?

You know those American movies where men in suits go out of their office, take a hot dog and sit on a bench?
Or, again, those cartoons where the children are given a coin because the ice cream truck has arrived?

Although its origin is Californian, nowadays also in Italy there are numerous examples of Food trucks.
If once the motto was “let it all go and I open a kiosk in the Caribbean”, now it’s “I close my restaurant and open a food truck”.

Lately the initiatives involving these trucks are multiplying.
In almost all Italian cities, fairs dedicated to Street Food are being held, that is, food purchased and consumed literally in the street, outside the supermarket, bars and restaurants.

We can define food trucks just like this: they are itinerant vans equipped with a kitchen for preparing and selling meals of various kinds, as well as snacks and typical specialties.
But let’s not be fooled by the appearance: there are very high quality food trucks that prepare top quality foods.

The most famous food trucks in the world

  1. Le Camion à Pizzas al Centquatre, located in Paris. It offers pizzas with various types of seasonings in a super chic truck.
  2. Die Dollen Knollen-Puffermanufaktur. It is located in Berlin and offers delicious potato rosti with smoked fish and cottage cheese seasonings.
  3. Emerson Fry Bread (Phoenix, Arizona) is the only one in the United States to specialize in Native American cuisine with a pinch of Mexican.
  4. Lembo Bistrot, an Italian example. It is located in Turin and offers choco-kebabs, waffles and marshmallows aboard an English Bedford. What makes it unique is the fact that the owners have created Beer Bike Baladin, a 12-seat rickshaw on which you can drink excellent beer while pedaling, and Moto Grill Guzzi, a motorbike heirloom from which come out smoldering Apulian bomblets

How to open a food truck? Everything you need to know

The fundamental thing in this activity is having a defined gastronomic idea.
From the concept, it will be possible to develop a marketing plan and a business plan that fixes a budget and commercial strategies, such as advertising through social media.

The great advantage of the food truck is the abatement or reduction of most of the typical costs of a restaurant, starting from the rent of the restaurant, which in big cities becomes more and more expensive when inflation increases.

However, the set-up difficulties should not be underestimated.
The initial investment is around 35 thousand euros, mainly due to the purchase of the truck, or truck.
In fact, the first thing to do is find the right gusto.

You can play around with colorful vintage vans and small Ape cars, but consider that they are unsuitable for long journeys and you may need a support laboratory.
In this regard, there are companies that specialize in selling modern and complete vans.

Besides the contained costs, another point in favor of food trucks is the fact that having itinerant itinerant licenses is easy.
They are obtained by applying in the municipality of residence and have national value.

To carry out food and drink administration activities, you must have worked at least 2 years in catering, attended the hotel school or similar degrees and diplomas, otherwise you must follow a 130-hour course.
A certification is also required to have all the moral requirements in order.

Being a retail trade activity on a public area, to start with it also requires a SCIA – Certified Activity Start Report – a statement that allows companies to start a business without having to wait for authorization from the competent bodies. It should be made for the foodtruck, for a laboratory if one has it and if catering services are also provided for that.

How to manage it
Here I can help you: with Ristomanager, managing everything related to stocks and orders will be a real breeze!

Thanks to the fast cash option, you can easily manage your accounts.
Here is how it will appear on the screen: